Process of extracting soluble albumen from whey



CIR

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT C. WEIMAR, OF GROVE CITY, PENNSYLVANIA.

PROCESS EXTRACTI NG SOLUBLE ALBUMEN FROM WHEY.

eena.

No Brewing.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that 1, dinner C. id e ran, a citizen of the United States, and an employee of the Department of Agriculture oi the United States u'america, residin at Grove City, in the county of li lercer,

. q dress is rrove (hty, Pennsylvania, have llfi vented new and useful improvements in the lact-albumen of the whey in a'soluble sugar centrifuge.

form and as free from other milk constituents as possible.

After removing the casein and fat from milk there remains in the milk a certain amount of milk, sugar, albumen and salts. M process of recovering the albumen in a soluble form is as follows: The fat and casein are removed from whey, and if the whey contains more than .15 per cent. acid calculated as lactic acid, the whey is neutralized. The whey is then concentrated at a 'tem erature below the coagulating point (72 of lact-albumen to a concentration at which the eater part 1 of the lactose cr stalliz'es. e evaporation is done most e ciently in a vacuum pan, but it is not .essential to the process that a vacuum-pan be used. It is essential, however, that the whey be maintained at the proper reaction atall stages of the process to prevent precipitation of the albumen. The crystallized lactose is removed by a filter press of thmproper type or by running the mother liqui through a In either case the sugar obtained may be further urified by Washing in the filter or centri go with a small amount of cold water. The filtrate will still contain a certain amount of lactose which,

.if desired, may be partiallyremoved by fur- Specification cf Bctters Patent.

(.L e EhLl-Efi, of Pennsylvania, and whose posboii'ice ad? Patented June MC, 1921.

application filed March is, 1920. serial I ic. dddfild'i.

concentration and a second filtration or centrlzhigalization. The filtrate still conains in addition tov the albumen, some laci all lactose may be removed by passing the filtrate ti'irough a continuous dialyaer. This step may be omitted when the whey used is so low acid that, it does not require neutralization. "iii acidwhey, such as is obtained in the manufacture of ()heddar or cottage cheese or is it is neces sary neutralize the acid, thus increasing the salt content to such an extent as to make dialyzing necessary.

lne resulting concentrated albumen solution contains small quanthe salts. The salts and some tities of lactose and salts. The remaining" water is removed by any method which does not heat the albumen: above the coagulating point. Thismay be accomplished in a tan ,nel drier such as is used in making casein or the insoluble albumen obtained as a "byproduct in the manufacture of lactose; in a drum drier operating in a vacuum chamber; or by spra ing the concentrated whey into a current 0 warm air. The powder so obtained contains all-of the albumen, a small amount of milk sugar, and some ofthe salts of the milk. These constituents are all in soluble form, and can be converted back to their ori inal condition by theaddition of water. he resulting roduct has many of thephysical and chemical pro erties .of e g albumen, and can be used in aking in t e same way as eggs.

Having thus ascribed my invention, what claim is: p 1. A process of extracting soluble albumen from whey, consisting in neutralizing the acid content of whey, concentrating the whey at a temperature below the prec1pitating point of the albumen contained therein to a degree at which the greater part of the lactose content of the whey crystallizes, separating the said crystallized lactose from the whey, dialyzing the wheyto remove the milk salts and some of the lactose, and finally, removing the remainin water by drying at a tem erature below 1: e precipitating point .of t e albumen, theresulting powder containing the albumen, a small amount of milk sugar, and some of thesalts of the milk.

2. A recess oil extracting soluble albumen fiche remaining Water by drying at a tempereilrom W ey, consisting in concentrating the inure below the precipitating point 0% the al- Whey at a temperature below the preeipibur-men: ee'tin point of the albumen at e degree ALIRERT C. W'EI'MAR.

5 at W ich the greater part of the lecu'zeee Witnesses: I crystallizes, separating the said crystallized Loewe SPEARS, lactose from the Whey eml finally, removing Ca H. lrleeefieez. 

